Whats wrong with this picture.

[Robert Kriegel]

Dear Leps-L members,

Am I crazy (wait -- that's another topic) or is there something in conflict
with these two statements.

1.  Both NABA and the Lep Society have been trying very hard to stop the
releasing of butterflies at ceremonies.  It is a well intended but
potentially detrimental practice.

2.  The Department of Entomology at the University of Kansas, for example,
sells thousands of monarch caterpillars to schools around the eastern half
of the nation every year. They even sell monarch breeding stock to more
than half a dozen commercial monarch breeders each spring -- companies who
in turn breed and sell the butterflies for release at ceremonial or
memorial events.

Is there someone on this list from U of K who can confirm or deny #2?  

As a member of Lep Soc I am very concerned if a university Entomology Dept.
is involved in the large scale commercial sale of native butterflies.
Particularly since this practice is in direct conflict with current efforts
by the two largest Lep societies in the U.S.

Bob Kriegel  <kriegelr at pilot.msu.edu>
Dept of Entomology
Michigan State University